London Buses.

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I saw two Superloop coloured (but not branded) d/d Alexander Denis red London buses heading down the m40 yesterday. Have they got yet another route in the works or would these be supplemental to other routes?

(I couldn't see which operator they were tied to, I just saw the London Buses logo on the side.)

Possibly for the SL3 which is a Stagecoach London route at Bromley. 

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Some tender news to end the month on.

Six routes,plus a schoolbus only route,were announced as to their futures. The only route of these to change operators is the 217,which as some of you might remember was a Sullivan Buses route until they shut up their London operations. Currently it's being run by Go Ahead London but from November Arriva London is to run it presumably from Enfield where it ran from until 2003. New electric buses are going to run on this route.

Go Ahead London has held onto the 184 at Northumberland Park and it will gain a few new buses to add to the current ones on it today. This contract starts next February and like the 217s new one is a seven year one.

Also retained is the 484 at Camberwell with their existing buses and again it is a seven year contract which in this case starts in March.

Stagecoach London has retained the 296 and 496 at Romford. New electric buses are coming to the 496 while existing diesel buses are going to be used on the 296, believed to be newer than the current 13reg examples. A rumour going round is that those delivered for the 499 might be among them. Both start their next contracts in October.

Abellio has held onto the 969, notable for being the last of the many 900 mobility routes begun during the 1980s. It will use whatever is available at their Fulwell garage and it will start its next contract, which by the way is a 3 year one as is the 296,in November.

Finally confirmation that Stagecoach London is to stay at West Ham, albeit in a much smaller capacity than before. They've leased it for the next five years.

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One bit of news that emerged yesterday was that Stagecoach have retained the 372 in East London. This route,which began as the 324 under Ensign,is held with new electric buses due early in its newt seven year contract which starts in March next year.

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Not tender news but some more electric buses started to enter service this morning on the W12 in and around Walthamstow and the 287,which interestingly is using buses ordered for another route.  

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Abellio has held onto the 367 and won the 493 from Go Ahead London in today's tender news.

The 367, which was retained to use the existing buses,runs between Bromley and Croydon taking the quiet route as opposed to the 119. Its latest contract is for three years and starts in March of next year.

They've been successful in taking the 493 from Go Ahead London to use new electric buses starting in March of next year too,and incidentally on the same day. Initially run by NCP Challenger it was taken by Metroline before Go Ahead London won the bid in late 2012, and it runs between Richmond, Wimbledon and Tooting.

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More tender news from London. This was published on Friday so a little bit late in my reporting.

Go Ahead London were the big winners here and they have held all six of the routes they were bidding for. All will gain new electric buses too.

Route 51, which was recently transferred to Morden Wharf,is to start its next contract in December as will the 178,244,291 and B16 which will remove a substantial number of diesel buses from Woolwich and in the case of the B16 another route in Bexleyheath. They've held the 162 too and this will transfer internally from Metrobus to London Central to run from the soon to open Sydenham garage which I've spoken about previously. The 162 will start its next contract next year in March.

Arriva London has held onto the 248 and will continue to use the NB4L buses on it although I wouldn't be surprised if never examples are sourced-the current buses on it are among the oldest ones of the type. It will continue to run from Grays and will start its next contract in September.

Finally Go Ahead London has been refused permission for a new garage in Lower Morden which would've relieved capacity constraints on Sutton and Morden. 

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Routes 123,158,240 and 486 had their futures secured today in the latest tender news announced. 

Run by Arriva London since 2005,the 123 is to have only its third operator since the Walthamstow fiasco of 1991 when London Forest ended up being dissolved and Walthamstow garage itself closing. It goes to Go Ahead London on a three year contract using hybrids and apparently it will be run from Northumberland Park. 

That starts next February as does the new contract for the 158. It currently is the only route run from Edmonton and Arriva London has held it to be run with hybrids. Given the space likely to be available in Tottenham garage as a result of their losing the 123 I wouldn't be surprised if it's moved into there. 

Metroline has held the 240 at Edgware which is likely to mean it'll be the first all electric garage in that fleet. New electric buses are going to be introduced and being an electric bus route it'll be a seven year contract starting in April next year 

Likewise the 486 has been held,in that case by Go Ahead London. Part of it once was the M2 linking Charlton to North Greenwich at the turn of the century,the 486 has only been run by  Bexleyheath garage who will be running the new contract for seven years beginning in late February of next year.

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I understand that Stagecoach London has ordered over a hundred Wright bodied Electric double decker buses. You might remember that recently Rainham held onto a number of routes with the proviso of new electric buses and a large number of these are for them. 

It also transpires that the C11 has begun a phased conversion to electric buses at Holloway. 

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Some more tender news, plus the introduction to service of more electric buses-specifically the correct bus as opposed to the temporary use of other buses. I'll explain later.

Firstly to Arriva London and the 149, which has been retained at Tottenham. Unusually it has a contract for thirty months which means, unless I've not seen it, this could well be the first route to convert from NB4L to electric buses. The new contract starts in October.


Finally the introduction to service of the first of the planned electric buses at Holloway of the WSEL type of bus which was ordered for the 153 and the introduction of electric buses to the W13 at Lea Interchange has been taking place. At the latter at least occasional appearances have been known but the booked buses are now entering service and this will bring about a surplus of diesel buses for both Stagecoach London and Metroline in course.
Electric buses are on order for two routes including a brand new one which I'll mention shortly.

The first of these is the 275-a route I travelled on only yesterday(Sunday 8th)and it is to be run by the current operator Stagecoach London for seven years starting at the end of February next year replacing the current Enviros at Leyton.

NEW ROUTE BL1 is to be run by Go Ahead London with a start date of September 27th. This was mentioned in a recent discussion with regards to the proposal of the extension of the Bakerloo line south of the Elephant to Lewisham and the bus is to run between Lewisham and Waterloo, I believe limited stop. Although not confirmed yet it could be run from Waterloo and the maintenance done elsewhere as the current pits cannot take double deckers.

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Some tender news to report this evening. Yes,at 11pm.

All three routes were retained by the current operators and interestingly retained their current buses.

They range from the one bus 385 in Chingford currently run by Stagecoach London,via the 386 which Go Ahead London runs from Morden Wharf,to the ultra busy 453 which Go Ahead London runs out of the substantial New Cross.

Three year contracts are in order for the 385 and 386 with their starting in October for the 385 and November in the case of the 386. A five year contract is in place for the 453 and this starts in November meaning they will operate into 2030.

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Some tender news from yesterday to report.

It's fair to say that the senior management at Stagecoach London would be breathing a massive collective sigh of relief at the news they'd held onto no fewer than FOUR routes, namely the 54,75,124 and 136 which make up close to half of the current allocation. All of them retain their existing buses-in the case of the 124 they're 12 reg so half expect them to be replaced-and all of them are on three year contracts starting in April and May next year.

Abellio has held the 159 for a further four years, taking the existing buses on it in use to the end of 2029 with the new contract beginning in December of this year.

Go Ahead London has been successful in holding onto the 69,200 and 463. Only the 200, unsurprisingly,is gaining new electric buses to replace the temperamental Optare buses currently on it. Routes 69 and 200 have seven year contracts handed to them while the 463 gets the customary three year one for existing buses and they are to begin in 2026.

Finally First London has held onto the 220. Currently run from Park Royal,it is believed-though not confirmed yet-to return to Shepherds Bush when PR closes. It will continue to be operated with existing hybrid buses and the contract starts in October. 

It is not confirmed yet, but it is believed that the 314, which Stagecoach London held on tender, might be at some point begin to be operated with its new electric buses which are identical to those on the 276, W13 and W14 in East London, therefore reducing the average age of the allocation at Bromley garage. 

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Some tender news from yesterday to report.

It's fair to say that the senior management at Stagecoach London would be breathing a massive collective sigh of relief at the news they'd held onto no fewer than FOUR routes, namely the 54,75,124 and 136 which make up close to half of the current allocation. All of them retain their existing buses-in the case of the 124 they're 12 reg so half expect them to be replaced-and all of them are on three year contracts starting in April and May next year.

Should've added that Catford runs all of them

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I attempted to try out the 453 yesterday evening at about 21:00 when I was down in London for the first time. Not the greatest experience a few stops up the road it got stuck in traffic and then the announcements changed to 453 to Oxford Circus. I asked the driver whats happening & was told "what does it say on the board and to be honest the next ones probably won't be going there either". So I had to walk across Central London instead as I couldn't risk not making that last 22:02 train back to Birmingham, as the rail network shuts down early on a Saturday/Sunday night.

The other bus I got earlier in the afternoon number 24 had the route number displayed but no destination on the front. I think it was LTZ1461

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I attempted to try out the 453 yesterday evening at about 21:00 when I was down in London for the first time. Not the greatest experience a few stops up the road it got stuck in traffic and then the announcements changed to 453 to Oxford Circus. I asked the driver whats happening & was told "what does it say on the board and to be honest the next ones probably won't be going there either". So I had to walk across Central London instead as I couldn't risk not making that last 22:02 train back to Birmingham, as the rail network shuts down early on a Saturday/Sunday night.

Did you get on the Bakerloo line at Oxford Circus to get the train ultimately? 

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Did you get on the Bakerloo line at Oxford Circus to get the train ultimately?

I walked it & thankfully just made the train, I wasn't familiar with the tube network but Thankyou I'll keep that in mind as an option for getting to Trafalgar Square aswell next time.

It was my first time using a bus in London so was interesting on the 24 to see the dual doors in use & staircase at the rear, busyness etc.